It is important for developing countries to match their strategies for attracting foreign investment with their plans for sustainable economic growth, the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board (TDB) was told this morning.

Africa has a bright future for attracting investment, but must use the opportunity to boost industry and improve infrastructure, H.E. Mr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa told the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board today during the Board's discussions under its agenda item on "Investment for Development."

Improving the world's 48 poorest nations' productive capacities, thus enabling them to link effectively into the global economy, is vital for helping them to transcend the "LDC" category, experts told the Trade and Development Board.

Addressing the opening ceremony today of the 9th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit and Exposition, and the 2012 Forum on China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi said that the China-ASEAN free trade area was an example of South-South regional integration that can promote scale economies, diversification and resilience.

On the second and final day, yesterday, of the conference on "Global Value Chains in the 21st Century: Policy Implications on Trade, Investment, Statistics and Developing Countries" co-organised by China's Ministry of Commerce, UNCTAD, WTO and OECD in Bejing, a panel discussion was held on "Global value chains (GVCs) and international investment."

Speaking at the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board session on Wednesday on the item "Development strategies in a globalized world: Reducing inequalities for balanced and sustainable development," H.E. Dr. Nicolas Schmit, Minister of Labour, Employment and Immigration of Luxembourg called for a new model for cooperation among countries from different parts of the world.

The first official meeting of the EMPRETEC Latin America Forum was hosted by EMPRETEC Panama in Panama City last week, following a regional training workshop that brought together EMPRETEC directors and trainers from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru and Venezuela to share experiences and discuss new developments.

"The investment–trade nexus is leading to a world in which … policymakers in the twenty-first century cannot afford to ignore the implications of GVCs for their industrial, investment and trade policies,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Pantichpakdi told the high-level panel convened yesterday after the opening plenary of the conference on "Global Value Chain in the 21st Century" jointed organised by China's Ministry of Commerce, UNCTAD, OECD and the WTO in Beijing.